


Dreaming

by angsty_jessbee



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Lucid Dreaming, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25413403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angsty_jessbee/pseuds/angsty_jessbee
Summary: Lake finds herself wondering if shes crazy, or her nightmares are becoming reality.
Relationships: Jesse/Lake (Fluidum)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 53





	Dreaming

Lake turns to the side of the bed, she had awoken to another nightmare. They had become quite frequent now that she was out of harm's way and got very psychedelic, confusing to understand. As she stares at the rhythmic blinking of the glowing numbers from her alarm she hears a creak. Sitting up in bed as her door slowly moves open, unable to make out who's coming in, her eyes weren't adjusted to the darkness quite yet. 

"Jesse?.." she calls out quietly not to alarm anyone else who may be sleeping

"I had a bad dream, can I sleep with you?"

His voice was hushed, almost forced, she wondered if he had been fighting back tears. As she yawned she pats an open space next to herself on the comforter, Jesse situated himself next to her. It wasn't uncommon for the two to sleep together, even when no nightmares were present. As his breathing becomes shallow, Lake tries to close her eyes and focus on sleeping again. Though, her eyes jolted open as a pair of arms made it around her waist, her face filled with a deep blush.

"Hey?...What's up?" She tries to turn but her body is firmly locked into Jesse's grasp

"I'm lonely"

Lake tries to turn again, she cant. Her arms glide against Jesses.

_ Wait what _

His arms felt different. She digs her fingers into the crease of his muscle, the grip only tightened. Lakes body struggled against the strength. 

_ This isn't Jesse.  _

Lake starts to panic, who would be stronger than her, she starts to try and release herself from the grasp once more. Her waist locks against his as a leg comes over to restrict her own she opens her mouth to protest.

"Shh.. please, you don't want to wake mom and dad… it's alright"

_ Why does it sound familiar _

It sounded like Jesse,  _ it was Jesse,  _ it just also wasn't. Lake moves again, the grip is now becoming painful for her, a feeling she had only felt when within the mirror world. She gasps at the sudden pressure against her chest. Her arms restrict themselves as she struggles to breath. 

_ Why does it sound so fucking familiar _ …  _ oh no _

She goes still, her body stops, her chrome skin runs pale.

_ The voice is metallic… this.. is Jesse _

"I'm surprised it took you this long to figure out how to get out"

Tears form in Lakes eyes

"What do you want from me"

"I want your complete freedom"

His arms squeeze tighter as one had moved to her neck. Lakes arms struggle against him, but no 14 years old body would be able to stop his own. Lake passes out as her limbs go limp. He sits up.

"Consider this a warning Olsen. Payback is on it's way" 

\---

_ Was that a dream? _

Lake sits up and rubs her head, a headache has grown through the night, the mechanical roar of a lawn mower outside did not help either. She shakes it off.

_ Wow, weirdest dream I've had in awhile, can't wait to tell Jesse about this one _

She laughs to herself as she sits up and rubs her neck, it still felt sore.

_ Tulip read something about being able to feel your dreams, it's.. it's a… shit I don't remember, maybe Whittney wi-  _

She freezes as she walks past a mirror. She's grown used to them, why is she afraid now? No. It's not the mirror, it's what she saw when she walked past. Her legs carry her back to the reflective surface. Tears form in her eyes as a hand clasps her mouth. 

_ That wasn't a dream _

Dark metal bruises line her neck, she falls to her knees.

_ That wasn't a dream _

She starts to sob ugly cries from her as she grips her own shoulders. She looks into the mirror again, at herself, all she remembers is how painful the grip was. The familiar voice she learned to be comforting, why does that now feel so distant?

"Lake! Are you okay?!" 

"Stay away from me!"

Lake screams, she puts her hands up in defense, one covering her neck, Jesse steps back, hands in the air to show no intent of grabbing her. Lakes heart raced, her body started to tremble, her breathing became harsh, small tears started to roll down her face and onto the carpet.

Jesse stays where he is, watching his friend fight with her emotions, he looks at the mirror and back to her. 

"Bad.. dream?.." he manages to ask

Lakes body loosens and she regains her voice, putting her arms down and sitting up. Jesse puts his arms down as well.

"Yeah.. heh.. you just scared me I'm sorry"

"Nothing to be sorry about, don't worry, stuff happens, but uh.. mom made breakfast, I'll tell her you need a minute"

Jesse kneels beside Lake, who now sits against the beam of her bed, hugging her knees. She gives a nod and a sniffle as she wipes a tear. Jesse smiles and walks out, making sure the door closes behind him. Lake takes one last glance at the mirror, no one else was in the room with her. It was okay.

_ Maybe it was just a dream.. I'm being paranoid  _

She collects herself and puts on a hoodie she had admittedly stolen from Jesse, it was big enough so that her neck was lost in the spare hood fabric, she pulls the chest up to her nose. 

_ Chlorine _

She laughs and messes with the pockets before heading downstairs. She's welcomed by a glare from the owner of their jacket. 

"Well that's where it went"

Jesse laughs as he pulls out the seat next to him, which Lake graciously takes. 

"Ah… sorry you lent it to me and I never gave it back" she adjusts the collar of the jacket as a plate is put in front of her, Jesse chuckles. Her meal portions were relatively small due to her lack of needing to eat or feeling hungry, but this morning she was starving. 

"I heard you had a bad dream, is everything alright kiddo?" Steph looks up from his phone

Lakes eyes break away from the food and up to him, he looked genuinely concerned as she picked up a fork. Her movements were shaken and she couldn't respond immediately.

"Uh yeah.. just.. mirror stuff"

She starts to eat, hopefully to stay away from anymore conversation, she finishes quickly and stands up to put her plate in the dishwasher, Steph stops her.

"Lake. You can tell us when somethings wrong, you never need to be scared to ask for help"

Lake cringed 

_ Ask for help _

"Oh… thank you, I'm fine, just tired still"

Steph gives a warm smile which made her feel relatively better, cleaning up for her, Jesse grips her hand before she walks off to the living room to sit with Nate. Jesse swallows then pulls her back to him. 

"Try and get some more rest I'll be out soon, kay?"

She nods and then goes to sit on the couch

The TV blurred with colorful nonsense her brain wasn't able to register. Nate sat happily on the floor eating cereal as he watched the cartoons. Lakes head draped against the armrest of the couch, admittedly she was exhausted, she'd always been tired, but never this tired, not when running, not when staying up all night. Physically she felt so, very, tired. But then that stopped, for some reason her adrenaline started to rush. A slow paced heart beat turned into snare drums, she checks her pulse.

_ Ow _

She jabbed her finger into the bruise 

_ Pain… what?.  _

She freezes. It's an unnerving feeling that makes your blood run cold, a shiver that sends shocks down your spine and makes your fingers feel like static. She can't breathe, no yes she can, it's painful. Lake looks around, the feeling grows stronger, the room fades out, the TV stays illuminated… no something else, not just the TV. Eyes. There are eyes. She's being watched. 

"Lake!" 

She gasps, her eyes shoot open, as her friend's father kneels beside her, his hands restricting her arms. She takes deep breath in and out, Jesse and Nate stand behind him.

"Are you okay? Can you tell me your name?"

"..Lake"

"Okay.."

He let's her sit up, she rubs her eyes in confusion, Jesse looks concerned while Nate grips his older brother's shirt hem. 

_ Oh I fell asleep.. now that was a dream… _

"You started to cry and say bad things.." 

Nate finally speaks, Lake looks up from her wet palms, he looked scared, afraid of her, the last thing she wanted. Though Jesse shushed him for the time being. Steph turns to the boys and then back to lake, setting a hand on her shoulder.

"I think you had a panic attack, I'm not sure why but if it's another nightmare then that's not good.. it's been months since you've gotten off the train kiddo, you shouldn't have to be feeling like this"

Steph checks his watch and stands up, addressing all of the children

"I need to go to work, your mother is in the backyard, Lake, I need you to try and stay calm today, I'll see what I can do for you.. no kid of mine should have to suffer like this, I'll see you when I get home"

Lake smiles as he bends down and kisses her forehead, then messes up Jesse and Nates hair as he walks out the door. Lake smiles, he's such a good father, it was nice to have one… a real one, Jesse sits beside her.

"What's with the stuff on your neck?"

"The.. bruises?"

"Yeah, they look like choke marks"

"Why do you know what those look like?"

"..reasons" 

Lake laughs and gives him a light punch, Nate had flicked the tv back on, this time Lake avoided watching it.

"I'm not sure…I mean, I dont know how I got them"

She lied

"Hm… okay, well if they get worse just let me know, I'll talk to mom and dad about it"

Jesse leans back on the couch, arms up against headrest, Lake uses this opportunity to snuggle up to Jesse's side. He embraces her into a hug as she settles between him and the couch, gripping the thin fabric of his shirt.

"Do you talk to your reflection"

"Yeah sometimes, I say 'hey how you doin good lookin!' And I fist bump him, though I try not to be vulgar when a mirror is around"

Lake rolls her eyes and chuckles burying her face into his shirt 

"Okay, I was just curious"

"Well then call me a cat, why were you curious"

"Just.. your.. reflection? Was in my.. dream? I guess? I dont know it's kinda stupid… just.. the last human reflection I talked to was Mikayla and just even seeing yours.. still behind the glass, kinda freaks me out"

Jesse brings her in closer to him, rubbing her back to show comfort

"Hey that's understandable, don't worry he's not goin' anywhere on my watch" 

Jesse kisses the top of her head, Lake squeezes him, she feels so safe in his arms, she starts to light up around the situation. Jesse was there, his reflection was still behind a mirror, she was safe, he's protecting her. She closes her eyes as her ear presses to his chest, for once she wasn't listening to her own heartbeat. The slow, but strong, pitter patter made her eyes heavy, with a yawn Lakes body sinks into his as she falls asleep. No dream this time, she's safe, she's with Jesse, the real Jesse. 

"You two should go out"

"Yeah sure thing mom"

Her eyes split open, the sun had filled the living room as she stayed comfortably in the arms of her friend. Whittney was standing between the loft opening and the living room talking to Jesse, Nate had moved somewhere else as Jesse now gripped the remote. 

"Well good morning sleepy head" he says with a giggle

Lake groans and rubs her face into his shirt, he runs his fingers through her hair and Whittney shares a smile, she gives him a nod and returns to her activities within the backyard.

"Mom wants us to go out today, it's nice, not too hot out today. I was thinking we could stop and get a slushie or something in really in the mood for some sugar"

Lake sits up trying to fix her now crooked sweatshirt 

"Yeah sure, just wanna hang out in the park? Wait is nate coming?"

Jesse shakes his head and gets up, lending Lake a hand, they head up the stairs together

"Nope he actually just left to ride his bike over to his friends, and yeah, the park sounds nice, I'm gonna get ready, see you at the door"

He waves as the split down the hall into the assigned bedrooms, for the first time in a while Lake hesitates to open her door, scared of what could have stayed in her bedroom from the night before 

_ No it was a dream you're being paranoid. Stop it. _

She shakes her head, pulling herself together and stepping in. Looking for an outfit was hard, she couldnt be too revealing today, not when her neck had the  _ mysterious _ bruises, though she settled on a choker to take away from the discoloration. Putting on an oversized band shirt and some ragged up skinny jeans, she tussles with her boots before exiting her room to find Jesse again. 

"Hey"

Jesse is fumbling with his wallet as he looks Lake up and down

"All black? Do you ever wear color?"

"Do you wear any colors that aren't blue and yellow?" She eyes his half on Letterman

"Hey its school spirit, plus, blue brings out my eyes~"

"Your eyes are brown."

"Did I stutter?"

Lake rolls her eyes and let's out a chuckle as Jesse gives her a stupid smile. Putting his wallet away he turns to open the door for her, she takes the first exit.

"Ladies first"

"Then why aren't you walking out"

"Hey I'm trying to be nice here"

"Hm.. then why thank you, kind gentleman" 

She gives him a smile and a curtsy before Jesse catches up to her down the steps, his mother was working on the flowerbed out front now and waved them goodbye as they made their way down the street. Lake kicks a pine cone as Jesse talks.

"So last night I was playing this game online with some friends where you're like trapped in this infinite room, it's kinda scary, I dreamt about it, you were there but you could only talk french"

"Can you understand french?"

"No but you were speaking it"

"Weird"

"What happened in your dream? Like you mentioned my reflection and then passed out" he gasps "was he  _ evil _ ?"

Lake rubs her neck, still queasy at the thought, she lets out a deep sigh and checks behind them before getting closer to Jesse 

"To be honest.. yeah… he strangled me in my dream it was so weird.. he was so strong and I felt helpless, like I was being attacked by a flec again" 

Jesse looks over to her, now sharing a mildly uncomfortable face

"Strangled you?.. Lake you have bruises on your  _ neck  _ you said it was nothing, this.. what if this isn't nothing?..." He stops walking, lake halts

".. you have  _ bruises  _ on your  _ neck  _ from a  _ dream _ "

"I probably did them myself!.." She's very quick to respond "..Look I probably freaked out from my dream because I don't know why, stuff just happens, like your dad said maybe I'm just having panic attacks"

They continue walking, Jesse bites his lip looking for a response, Lake resumes kicking the pine cone

"When you were on the couch you covered your neck, you protected it, you didn't grab it" he shakes his head, "but hey, I believe you, sorry I'm just really worried"

He looks at his palm as lake picks up her new item of interest, she examines the seeds of the pine cone before plucking them out, Jesse smiles at her curiosity

"I just don't want to be the cause of a problem if there is one, ya know, my reflection is kinda me"

Lake snorts and crushes the pine cone with her hand before letting the shards fall to the ground

"He isn't you and never will be you, just cause you've got the same body doesn't mean you are both alike. Think of it as.." she waves her hands around looking for a term, Jesse tilts his head, "like you two are identical twins, yeah you've got a birthmark on the same place on your butt but you might think it's weird, but mirror you might think its sexy, I dunno"

"Don't you have a birthmark on your bu-"

"Stoppp it was an exampleeeee" she interrupts his sentence with a push

They both laugh as Jesse pulls Lake under his arm, they laugh until tears form in their eyes and they need to stop and sit down. It was a good laugh.

_ Today will be fun _

\---

The two teens return home as the streetlights start to flicker on, signaling curfew, Jesse unlocks the front door and steps inside, Lake soon follows. Whittney and Nate sat on the couch watching an action movie, both seemed relatively interested, but it was only their mother who greeted the two

"How was your outing? You guys look like you had fun"

Jesse was still giggling about events that had happened back at the park, Lake couldn't help laughing either. She kneels to take off her shoes.

"Yeah it was fun mom, thanks for basically forcing us to go out" Jesse replies taking off his jacket

"It was hot and gross why did I even go out"

_ … what? _

"It wasn't gross what are you talking about?" Lake looks up to Jesse who was hanging up his coat 

"What?"

"You said it was hot and that you didn't wanna go out"

"No I said it was fun, bold of you to assume I don't like the heat" he gives her a smile

Lake stands up after dropping her boots next to the door, shaking her head

"Eh alright, I dunno what that was"

"Maybe you're just tired, I get like that after swim practice, 'Jesse you did a good job!' 'No I don't want a chicken leg Coach Brown'" he laughs at his joke and Lake joins him

"Alright, well I will be taking a  _ shower _ because I feel gross and sticky from ice cream, so see you at dinner"

Jesse shoots her an 'okay' sign as she walks past Whittney and Nate, debating whether or not to give him a head rub, she lets him enjoy the movie and continues on.

_ Ugh showers _

She grabs a towel and clean pajamas from her bedroom before she walks towards the bathroom at the end of the hall. The lights flickered on and she jumps back

_ Oh yeah, there are mirrors _

She laughs at it and undresses before turning the water on, she gets in.. though now there was an uncomfortable feeling. She didn't need the water to be hot but the reflective surfaces kept making her feel judged, so she turned on the heat to let the steam collect. 

_ No it's fine, just, get clean, get dressed, go hang out with Jesse in his room  _

She takes a bit longer than usual, as she gets out the water stops, the dripping of the faucet was the only sound now. She looks into the mirror, nothing perfectly back, only a haze of silver was shown

_ Why am I so worried…ow! _

Her hands had itched her neck, it really hurt. She wipes off the steam to check on her bruises 

"They aren't even going down… the color is just getting darker"

"Well duh, they are bruises"

_ What _

Lake freezes, she steps back from the mirror, looking to ever corner, every other reflective surface that was in the room, no one was there, where the hell did that voice come from

"Jesse?"

She calls out, no response 

_ Was that just me? Yeah.. I'm fucking paranoid his reflection can't just break away from him, the flecs would stop him _

She takes a deep breath in

_ In for 4 _

She slowly exhales 

_ Out for 8 _

After collecting herself she dries off easily and puts clothing on, she leaves the bathroom almost swinging the door into Jesse as he stood at the entrance, hand up ready to knock

"Oh hey!"

"Uh.. hi?"

Jesse gives her a smile, he had put on pajamas as well and was holding a movie disk

"I wanted to get your opinion for a movie tonight because Nate and I can't"

"Im.. not going to watch a movie tonight, I'm still kinda tired.. I just wanna sleep?"

She runs her own shoulder, Jesse's expression softens into a frown but he nods

"Oh alright, well you should get your sleep anyways, we had a long day" he smiles before yawning, "oh no the sleepiness is contagious"

Lake tries to hold back a laugh but fails to and walks past him, he follows her as she walks to her room. He follows her in until she throws her clothes into a hamper, laying on her bed. Jesse stands leaned against the door opening.

"Ughhh I just want to curl up and sleep for a thousand years" she grabs a pillow and hugs it to her chest

"That sounds nice" Jesse sets the disk down and removes her pillow before laying next to her "but I'd rather those thousands of years be together"

Lake blushes and snuggles up to him

"You're such a sap"

"A sap for you~"

"I thought you had a movie to watch"

"Well I wanna watch it with you"

"Well I'm staying in my room"

"Then I guess I'm not watching a movie tonight, Nate can watch it with dad… oh yeah!" He sits up leaving Lake cold without his warmth, "Dad has something to tell you, I forgot"

Lake sits up and tilts her head, Jesse's quick to help her up and retrieve the disk, they head downstairs where Steph and Whittney are sitting on the couch chatting, Nate ate a snack in the kitchen. 

"Hey kiddo"

Steph waves to her as she steps away from the banister, Jesse goes to tell Nate his change of plans for the night 

"Hey" She sits next to him as he invites her with a pat

"So about this morning, I figured you'd be going to bed now, sorry about calling you down" he bites his thumbnail "it anything happens during the night, even if you think it's dream, I want you to go and find someone else in the house, can be me, Nate, Whitt, or Jesse, just anyone, shake us awake and ask for help okay? No more nightmares, especially if you're hurting yourself in your sleep.. that isn't healthy" his hand comes up and ever so slightly touches Lakes fragile, bruised, skin. "even if it's in the dream, then we can confirm it's a dream.. and not something else" he glances at Jesse who was now apologizing to his brother

Lake winced at his touch but her stomach dropped at the word  _ confirm. _

"Jesse told you?..."

"That kid can't keep anything to himself, I don't know why you trust him so much" 

Steph laughs and Lake gives him a smile, as he puts his arm down he gives the 'okay' for them to go back upstairs, this time Lake follows Jesse to his room, they had agreed with sleeping by each other for the night, just in case she needs it. Lake rests her head against the left side of Jesse's chest, listening to his heartbeat once again, they had picked a different movie and now were sucked into the world of comedic romance. 

"The actors suck"

"You can clearly see Rachel's wig line"

"No ring costs that much"

"Her makeup is so off, I could do better"

They laugh and nitpick at most scenarios in the movie Jesse looked more for what they could improve while Lake went with a blunt approach. As the credits roll the two lay laughing with each other in their arms. Lake yawns and returns her ear to Jesses chest, listening to his heartbeat once again. He picks up the remote and turns the screen off before picking up his phone. Lake groans at the brighter and closer light.

"Ughh turn it down" she gives him a squeeze

"Okay okay okay sorry"

Jesse situates himself and lays down fully, Lake stays cuddled against him, her eyes try to follow his scrolling home screen but she quickly gives up and allows them to fall shut, she's soon whisked away into an empty dream, the only thing she hears is a heartbeat.

_ Bump _

_ Bump _

_ Bump _

_ "Olsen" _

Her eyes snap open and Lake sits her body up, she was sweating, breathing heavy, her head hurt, she rubs her eyes and looks over to her side. Jesse was now sleeping, he laid there silently, though his breathing was shallow. Lake swallows.

_ Olsen.. no.. I hate that..  _

Tears drip down her face again

_ Just shake Jesse awake it's not that hard, he's right there… you were told to.. you… Olsen… _

She starts to silently sob

_ It was a dream _

"Lake?..You okay?"

She gasps, almost falling off of the side of the bed, she catches herself

_ No it's just Jesse.. shoot I woke him up _

She looks towards her friend, who wasn't sitting up

_ Wait what _

A hand holds her shoulder 

"Hey… it's okay to cry"

She freezes

"I'm here for you"

Two hands grip her shoulders

"Just try and go back to bed"

There was no heartbeat 

  
  
  
  


"J-Jesse?" She whimpers "Jesse?" She says again now louder

"What about him? A nightmare?"

She kicks her friend, her  _ real  _ friend, a groan comes from the sleeping shadow, the grip on her shoulders grows tighter

"JESSE-" 

A hand clamps her mouth shut, she gets a taste of metal, Jesse's quick to react and turns over. A person, equal his size, triple his strength, snarls at the two before dropping the what seemed like a weak girl, gasping for air 

"It doesn't need to happen tonight anyways"

The figure turns and walks away, though your first instinct would be to scream for help, Jesse has no other thoughts other than to comfort what looked like his hurt friend. Quickly he gives his friend a suitable place in his arms. Pulling out his phone to text his parents awake, notices a lack of color within the crying girl. 

_ Wait where is my reflection _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I passed out 4 times while writing this and @FunneyLizzie on Instagram actually drew in exchange for most of the writing so thank her for this wonderful story.... even if shes holding me at gunpoint to write more


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